Who doesn’t love a tasty, beautiful, Instagram-story-friendly plate of cheese? My friend Jennifer of Feather + Oak has written up these five steps for a simple cheese board, which you can easily put together with just a few ingredients. When Jennifer and I did this shoot, I was picking up the ingredients and she suggested going to Aldi. I bought nearly everything in these photos there — the meat, cheeses, nuts, and most of the produce — all at very reasonable prices and of great quality! I haven’t found the perfect alternative to Aldi here in Canada sadly, but the regular grocery stores will have to do!

Cheese: choose two. Ignore the rules about buying with regards to texture and flavor. That’s great for large cheese boards but for a simple one with friends, just buy what you like. For example: sharp cheddar + havarti or a goat cheese + gouda.

Meats: choose one. Go to the deli counter or check out the pre-packaged meats in that part of the store. Prosciutto is a universal favorite. A salami or capicola are also yummy choices.

Fruits + Veggies: choose three or four. If you don’t have time to slice, choose fruit such as grapes, cherries, bite size tomatoes + berries and pre-cut veggies like broccoli florets and carrots.

Vehicle: choose one. Your favorite cracker, a sliced baguette, brioche or Hawaiian bread torn into pieces. Bread will start to stale once sliced so if you don’t want to babysit your cheese board all evening, go with crackers.

Extras: choose two. Extras consist of nuts, spreads such as honey or jam, seeds, or dried fruit. In nuts, almonds are a traditional choice for cheese boards. If you want to be a little bit different, try shelled pistachios or macadamia nuts. A really good honey is excellent with everything on a cheese board. For jams, peach, strawberry, or blackberry are all quite palate friendly. Salted sunflower seeds or toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) would be a delicious and unique alternative to nuts. Love dried fruits? Apricots, prunes, figs, and golden raisins are all readily available.

The thought of making bread at home is often intimidating. But this recipe I’m sharing with you today is super simple to make and the result is a beautiful, perfectly crusty, flavorful loaf of bread that looks like it came straight out of a bakery. I’ve made this recipe many times over the last few years and it’s never failed me!

I first discovered this recipe when my friend Katie posted photos of this amazing homemade bread years ago, initially on her tumblr blog. She sent me this blog post by The Londoner, which explains the recipe in detail and has helpful process photos. I’ve compiled the instructions from that blog post with my personal experience of making the bread many times. Just follow the directions below and it’ll be a no-brainer! I recommend making the dough in the evening, letting it rise in a warm place overnight, and baking in the morning.

No-Knead Bread

3 cups flour1.5 tsp salt1/2 tsp yeast1.5 cups water

Mix ingredients together in large mixing bowl until just blended - no need to over-stir it. It won’t be pretty or really look like dough. If it’s a bit dry, just add a little more water until all the flour is blended together. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place. I usually turn my oven on low for a few minutes, then turn it off and put the bowl in there and leave it there. Let dough sit overnight/all day.

After rising, turn oven to 450 F and preheat a dutch oven pot in it.

Place the dough on floured surface. Don't knead or punch it down. Just flip the dough over a couple times to coat it in flour so it’s not sticky anymore. Place the dough in the dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, and 10-15 minutes with the lid off, until the crust is brown and crispy.

Slather in a nice healthy amount of butter, drizzle with some honey, and enjoy!

If you don’t own a dutch oven, you could also use any large oven-safe pot and lid, a pizza stone, or a large cast iron skillet. This week I baked the bread in a cast iron skillet and loosely covered the bread in aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes, and it worked great!

Also: dutch ovens are wonderful, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to get one that works well. The colorful Le Creuset and Staub dutch ovens are glamorous and gorgeous and I definitely want one someday, but this $40 Lodge 5-quart dutch oven on Amazon does the trick just as well.

For my Canadian friends, the same Lodge dutch oven is quite a bit pricier on Amazon.ca, but you can check out Bed Bath & Beyond or Walmart for some good options. It looks like there are some decent options for $60-70, which is a lot cheaper than the fancier ones out there.

A peek into my family vacation to Maine this fall. I've dreamed of going to Maine for years so it was amazing to finally experience it in person! Maine is absolutely beautiful, with so many quaint coastal towns and gorgeous views. It was refreshing to see something different this year rather than our usual beach vacation.